Machine for cutting off the heads and tails of fish.



' F. D. CLEVELAND. MACHINE FOR CUTTING OFF THE HEADS AND TAILS OF FISH.

APPLICATION IILLD JAN.6 ,1913..

- Patented N0y. 18,1913.

Z SHEETS-SHEET l.

P. D. CLEVELAND. HINE FOROUTTING on" THE HEADS AND TAILS OF FISH.

MAC

APPLICATION FILED 12111.6, 19131 Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WWI/03s (36';

FRANCIS I). CLEVELAND, OF WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAMunnnnwoon COMPANY, or

CI-IUSETTS.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- MAGT-IINE FOR CUTTING OFFTHE HEADS AND TAILS OF FISH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pa'tentet Nov. 18,1913.

Original application filed July 23, 1910, Serial No. 573,515.Divitleclzand this application filed January 6,

1913. Serial No. 740.281. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'T, FRANCIS D. Cnnyn- LAND, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing atlVinchester, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new-and useful Improvements in Machines forCutting Oil the Heads and Tails of Fish.

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for cutting off the heads and tailsof fish, such, for instance, asthe fish known as sardines, preparatoryto canning the same.

he invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts setforth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in theclaims thereof.

This application is a division from the applicationof Francis D.Cleveland, Ma-

chine for cutting olfhcads and tails of fish, Serial No. 573,515, filedJuly 23, 1910,

and embodies certain features which were originally presented in thatapplication but which cannot be made the subject matter of specificclaims relating thereto, for which reason applicant files the presentapplication as a division of said application Serial No.

Referring to the drawings: Figure l is a sectional elevation of myimproved niachine. Fig. 2 is adetail sectional elevation taken on line22 of Fig.1. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 3'3 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 4+4 ofFig 1. is a detail section taken on line 55 of 1, showing the lower endof the semi-circular cover and the rotary cutters in their relativelocation thereto, and a portion of one of the partitions of the carriershown in section.

Like numerals refer to like parts through out the several views of thedrawings.

-In the drawings, 5 is the frame of the machine and 6' is arotaryearricr with pockets 7, 7 provided in the periphery of saidcarrier for the reception of the fish from Y which the heads and tailsare to be removed.

Said pockets are separated one from the other by partitions-8% extendinglongitudi nally of the carrier 6. It will besecn, therefore, that saidcarrier is provided 1 in its periphery with a series of parallellongitudinally channeled holding devices.- The carrier, as a whole, isfastened to a shaft 9 jour- Fig. 5).

naled in suitable bearings 10 on the frame of the machine and is rotatedin any suitable manner, as for instance, by a pulley fast to said shaft9.

The fish are delivered to the machine through any suitable chute, as,for instance, the chutelO indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, and passfromsaid chute onto a guideplate 11 which is slotted to allow the teeth12 of a feed wheel 13 to project therethrongh, said feed wheel beingfastened to a shaft 14 and rotated by a pulley 15 in the direction ofthe arrow a. The teeth projecting through the guide-plate 11 feed thefish along down said guide-plate toward the right (Fig. l) and into' thepockets 7, 7 as" said pockets-pass upwardly past the end of said plate,the carrier being rotated in the direction of the arrow 6. 1

A tray '16 is located at the right of the carrier 6 and extendingdownwardly from beneath said tray to the bottom of the carrieris.a':;c0ver 17 the inner face of which is adjacent to the periphery ofthe carrier 6. By reference to Figs. 2 and t it will be seen that saidcover is convex in cross sectional contour. To the upper end of saidcover are connected two pipes (Fig. 4) l8 and 19 inclined toward thecentral portion of the periphery of the wheel and through these pipeswater is supplied from a supply pipe 20. It will be noted that the pipes18 and 19 constitute oppositely disposed meansfor directing ets of fluidunder pressure into the channeled holding devices successively as thesaid'holding devices.- To the lower end of the cover 17 are connectedtwo pipes 21 and to which water is supplied by pipes 23 and. 2 The pipe21 leads into an outlet orifice 25 formedin the cover 17 (see Fig. 2,)and just above said outlet orifice is a dellectk ingplate 26 whichdeflects the water in opposite directions from the center of the carriervG toward the outside thereof, and in a direction substantially parallelto the inner face of said cover. The opposite ends of the pockets'7, t"are substantially closed to prevent the fish from being driven out ofthe pockets by theflow of the'water, by annular gages 27 and 28-,respectively, these gages.

being fastened to the shaft 9 and adjustable longitudinally of saidshaft'to accommodate Varying lengths of fish, according to the size fishwhich are being handled by the'machine.

" It Will be noted that the gages 27 and 28 con stitute stops,therefore, to prevent the fish from being moved entirely out of thepocket or channeled holding device, but that there is a space betweenthe edges of the gages or described, with a-space therebetween, con-.stitute .a sieve. The outlet of the pipe 22 is similar in all respectsto the outlet of the pipe 21 just described and is provided also with adeflecting plate 29 (Fig. 1.)

The pipes 21 and 22 are located just in i advance of a pair of rotarycutters 30 and 31 which are fastened to a shaft 32 journaled in suitablebearings on' the frame of the machine and rotated by a pulley 41 fast totheshaft 32, Fig. 1. .These rotary cut-- ters project into the pockets 77 as the carrierrotates and extend transversely of said pockets. Thepartitions 8 are provided with slots 33, 33 to allow the. cutters toproject into said pockets and these slots arein alinement with therotary cutters 30 and 31.

' @The. fish bodies pass between the cutters 30 and 31 after having theheads and tails cut therefrom and drop onto the chute 34,

7 down which'they slide intothe receptacle 35,

I delivered to the carrier,'th'ere may'be'.one,.

two or three delivered to a single pocket,,

while the heads and tails which are cut from these fish bodies passon-the outside, respectively-,pf the rotary cutters 30 and 31 and ontothe-two chutes 36, 36located outside said cutters, and said heads andtails pass down-the two chutes 36.into a receptacle 37:

Water is supplied to the machine hereinbefore described at variouspoints, whereever it may be required to float the fish .down

the chute 10 and along the inclined guide .plate 11 and also wherever itmay be required to wash and cleanse the fish, and also wherever it maybe required to position the that the cover 17*, which is convex in crossfish properly in the I It. will be understood that 'aslthe'fish are orthey may be delivered with their-heads all pointing 'one way, or theymay bedelivered inivarious positions, as, for instance,

the fish may lie longitudinally'withinthe pockets orthey may. extend.transversely of.

the pockets. Itis, however, the objectof the invention, to have the fishlie-longitudinally of the pockets with their heads against the annulargages 27 or 28, as .the case may be, in order that when the heads andtails are cut from the fish, they shall be cut at the proper point andnot spoil the fish by cutting the same in the wrong place. There fore,as the rotary carrier 6 1S rotated from the point at the leit'where thefish are first fed into the pockets by the feed wheel 13,

pipes 38 are arranged to deliver water at the periphery of the feedwheel and preferably slightly at an angle, similar to the arrangen'ientof the pipes 18 and 19, (Fig.

4). The number of pipes may be one, tWO' or three, as may be desired andas found most eificient for. the class of fish which is being handled,and other pipesmaybe arranged along the periphery of the carrier, ifdesired, the object being to float the fish longitudinally of thepockets, so as to position the same, as hereinbefore described,

with their heads adjacent to the annular,

gages.

It will be understood that sufii'cient force might be directed throughone set of pipes, such as the pipes'38 or the pipes 18 and 19,

to force all of the fish longitudinally of the pockets up againstthegagespbut'if sufiicient force is thus supplied todrive the fish allup against the gages byfoneset of pipes, they will be driven withso muchforce that whenthe heads vstrike the gages some of the fish will bounceback andjthus they will notbe properly positioned. Therefore, it hasbeen found more. practical 'to supply water to the pockets from pipesdisch'arging at the periphery of the carrier. andf at difierent pointsaroundthe periphery in fish are positioned properly longitudinally ofthe pockets, and finally, when'theyarrive at the pipes 21' and 22, thefish are positioned with their heads against the annular gages 27' or28, as the case may be, and in readiness forthe rotary cuttersto'severthe heads and tails from the bodies.

flow of water from the ,difiere'nt pipes on the fish to position them,as hereinbefore set forth, with their heads located against the annulargages-27 and 28, it will be noted sectional contour, aidsjin the placingofthe fish in said position as said fish will natu rally slide downtoward the gages on said 11o In addition to the'eifect' produced by thecarrier, that the hcads of the fish will be ripl-iery of the carrierwill be forced oti o the wheel back onto the guide plate it by thestreams of water which issue from the pipes 33; also any fish which arelocated in the pockets will be carried to a certain. tent longitudinallyof the pockets to bring their heads against the annular gages orE28,1.'especti\'ely. Upon a still further rotation of the carrier thefish are brought around toward the right (Fig. 1) until the pocketscoi'itaining the same pass behind the cover 17 and just. at the upperend of this cover and below the stay 1G jets of water issue from thepipes 18 and 19 and the fish are lifted and arranged still better longitudinally-ot the pockets by reason of the infiowing streams of waterfrom said pipes 18 and 19; then as the carrier 6 continues its rotationthe fish fall from the bottoms of the pockets onto the shield or cover17. This cover closes the channeled holding devices or pocketsduring-the discharge of the jets of water from the pipes 18 and 19thereinto and as the fish are carried around by the carrier 6 they slideoutwardly on the convexshaped cover 17 toward the gages 27 and 28,and'as the pockets with the fish therein pass the outlets of thepipes 21and 22, said fish are carried still farther toward the gages and heldtherengainst by and in the diverging streams of water from the centralportion of the carrier until they are carried completely toward and intoengagement with the gages 27 and 28 at opposite sides of said brought upgently against thegage 27'or the gage 28' and held there by the fiowin'gstreains'cf water, said streams of water be.- ing aided in the placingof the fish by the convex contour of the eorer or shield 17. Uponfurther rotation of the carrier 6. the heads and tails of the fish arecut off by the rotary cutters 30 and 31.

In Fig. 1, a fish 39 is indicated located in the pocket 7 and this fishis just in position to be cut by the rotary cutters 30 and 31. Said fishis lying within the pocket 7 at the lower end of the cover 17 which actsto support the fish'and to enact with the cutters 30 and 31 as they passthrough the slots 40, 4-0

,(Fig. 5) in the lower end of said cover, the

partition 8 of the pocket acting to push the fish against the cuttingedges of the rotary cuttenl Thus the fish is held during the cuttingoperation by the infiowing streams otwater from the pipe 522 with itshead against an annular gage,'the head and tail are cut oil by therotary cutters, and the fish, as a whole, is pushed toward the rotarycutters to assist in the cutting operation by the partition of thepocket, and said fish is held by the cover'during the cutting operationuntil, the heads and tails are severed from the bodies, whereupon thebodies pass downwardly between the rotary cutters 3t) and 331 along thechute 3st and into, the receptacle 255, while the heads and tails passdownwardly outside the Clltl'Ql'S 30 and 31 onto the chute and into thereceptatde 37.

It will be understood that the partitions of the carrier, being slottedat 33, cooperate in their forward movement as feed fingers or pusherswith the rotary cutters 30 and 31 in the operation of severing the headsand tails from the bodies of the fish,

and further in pushing oi'i' the heads and.

tails and the bodies of the fish,: after they have been severed, ontotheir respective chutes, as horeinbefore set. forth.

Particular attention directed to the fact that the fish are floated bythe streams of water toward the gages 27 and 28, with their headsresting 'againstsaid by reason of the water being directed insti'eanis'longitudinally of the pockets in opposite directions from thecentral portion of the carrier and substantially parallel to the innerface ot'the cover 17, and as soon as they arrive with their heads ortails bearing against the; gages 27 or 28, as herembetore described theyare then imn'iediately brought into con tact with the rotary cutterswhich, being rotated very rapidly, sever the heads and tails with speedand precision.

- It will be understood that as the fish arrive at the pipes 38 they areroughly positioned in the pockets; then when they arrive at the.

pipes 19 and 20 they are positioned still better in the pockets: and asthe carrier is rotated as hereinbet'ore described and the fish tall fromthe pockets on the under side of the carrier against the cover 17, theconvex shape of said coverassists in moving .the fish ii toward thegages 27 and 28, leaving them all ready for the special final action ofthe streams 2t and Q2, and theme final streams 2t and 22, extendingparallel to the inner surface of the eoren float the fish as if theywere floating in a stream of water naturally outward toward the gagesuntil the heads of the fish are resting against the gages, ashereinbetore described.

Having thus described my invention, what. I claim and desire by LettersPatent, to secure is: i

l. A machine of the class described iii-- eluding an endless series ofchanneled holding devices, cutting elements adjacent the paths of'jtheends of said devices, and op- 'devices successively ,at points betweenthe centers and the ends of said holding devices, and at an angle to thelengthof said ,holding devices and-to each other:

i 2. The'comhination, with a conveyer in-. cluding channeled holdingdevices, of nozzles for directing jets of fluid .under pressure intosaid holding devices successively at points between the centers and endsof each channel andat an *angle to the length of said holding devicesand to each other, separate cutting elements between the centers andends of said channels'for' engaging; the-contents. of said channelswhenshii'fted by said jets and means for maintaining the channels closedduring the reception of said j ets.

3. The combination, with a conveyer' ineluding a series of parallellongitudinally i engaging the contents of said channels subchanneledholding devices, of oppositely disposed nozzles adjacent the ends ofsaid devices for directingjets of fluid-under pres sure 1nto saidholding devices between the centers and the ends thereof, in oppositedirections respectively and at an angle to the length of-said holding'devices,and cutting means adjacent the ends of said holdingdevices.

' 4. The combination,- with a conveyer including holding deviceshavingtransversely extending channels, of nozzles for directing jets of fluidin opposite directions respectively into said channels successively atpoints between the centers and the ends of said channels and at an angleto the length of said holding devices, means for maintaining thechannels closed during the discharge of the jets thereinto and cuttingdevices adacent the ends of said channels.

a. "The combination, with a conveyer including channeled holdingdevices, of nozzles for directing jets of fluid under pressure into saidholding devices successively at-points between the centers and the endsof saidholdingdevices and at .an angle to the, length of said holdingdevices-and to eachother and separate cutting elements for sequentto'the direction of said jets into said channels.

6. The combination, with a conveyer including channeled holding devices,of nozzles for directingjets of fluid under pres sure into said-holdingdevices successively atpoints between the centers and the opposite endsof said holding devices, and -a-t an angle to the length of said holdingdevices and to each other, separate cutting elements adjacent the endsof said channels for engaging the contents of said channels when shiftedby said jets and means for maintaining the channels closed during thereception of the jets.

1 .7. Ainachine. for cutting oil the heads and tails of fish comprisinga support provided'with a pocket, means for discharging fluid into saidpocket between the center and one end thereof and, at an acute angletothe length of said pocket, said means adapt. ed to shift the fishlongitudinally in said pocket, a-stop for the other end of the pocket,said stop constituting a screen permitting-the exhaust of said fluid andcutting means for the ends of said fish.

8. A machine for cutting fish having, in combination, .an endlesscarrier provided with pockets in its periphery, means adapted to; cutoff the heads of fishlocated in said pockets and oppositelydisposed'means for directingjets of fluid under pressure .into saidpockets-at points betweenthecenters and the extreme endsof said pockets,

and at an angle to the length ofsaid pooh;-

ets and to each other.

9. A. machine for cutting fishhavin'g, in

combination, an endless carrier provided with pockets in its periphery,means adapted to cut off the heads of'fish located in said pockets,gages at opposite ends, respectively, of said pockets, means to feedfish intosaid pockets and oppositely disposed means .for

directlng ets of fluid under pressure into said pockets at pointsbetween the centers5' and the extreme ends of said po c'k etsand at anangle to the length of-sald pockets and to each other; i

10. A machine for cutting fish .having, in-

combination, a n endless carrier provided with pockets in'its periphery,partitions on said carrier separatlng said pockets from each other andextending longitudinally of said carrier, a cutter projecting into saidpockets transversely thereof, said partitions having slots therein inalinement with said cutter and'oppositely disposed means fordirecting-jets of fluid under pressure into said pockets at pointsbetween the centers and the extremeends of saidpockets, and at anangletothe length of said pockets and to'each other; 1'

11. A machine for cutting the heads 05 of fish having, in combination anendless carrier provided with pockets in its periphery,means adapted tocut oilv the heads of fish located in'said pockets, and a plurality ofmeans for directing fluid under pressure and at an angle to the lengthof said pockets and to each other against fish located in said pockets,wherebysaid fish will be moved in thedirection in which their heads maybe pointed and into position for engagement by said cutters.

- 12. A machine for cutting the heads off of fish-having, incombination, an endless carrier provided, with pockets in its periphandat an angle to the length of said pockets and toeach other,'whereby saidfish will be moved in the direction in which their heads may be pointedagainst said gagesand into position for engagement by said cutters.

13. 'A machine for cutting fish having, in combination,- an endlesscarrier provided with pockets in its periphery, means adapted to cut offthe heads of fish located in said pockets, gages at opposite ends,respectively, of said pockets, a semi-circular cover adjacent to theperiphery of said carrier and 0ppositely disposed means located inadvance of said cutters adapted to direct jets of fluid into saidpockets Within said cover at an angle to the length of said pockets atpoints between the centers and the extreme ends of said pockets. let. Amachine for cutting fish having, in combination, a rotary, carrierprovided with pockets in its periphery, a pair of rotary cuttersprojecting into said pockets trans versely thereof,- means to impart arotary motion to said cutters, gages at. opposite ends, respectively, ofsaid pockets, a cover adjacent to the periphery of saidcarrier providedwith slots into which said rotary cutters are adapted to projectandoppositely disposed means located in advance of said cutters adapted todirect jets of fluid under pressure into said pockets successively atpoints between the centers and the extreme ends of said pockets, and atan angle .to the length of said pockets.

1 15. A machine for cutting the heads 0d of fish having, in combination,a'conveyer with ockets in its eri her i a cutter and means for directingfluid under pressure against a fish on said conveyer at an acute angleto the g length of said pockets and intermediate the endsthereof,whereby said fish Will-be moved in the direction in which hishead may bepointed and into position for engagement by said cutter.

16. A machine for cutting the heads off of fish having, in combination,a conveyer with pockets in its periphery, a cutter, a gage and means fordirecting fluid under pressure against a fish on said conveyer at anacute angle to the length of said pockets and intermediate the endsthereof, whereby said fish will be moved in the direction in which hishead may be pointed into contact with'said gage and into position forengagement by said cutter.

17. A machine for cutting oil? the heads of fish having, in combination,a conveyer with pockets in its periphery, separate oppositely disposedcutting means and means for directing fiuid'under pressure against afish on said conveyer at an acute angle to the length of said pocketsand intermediate the ends thereof, whereby said fish will be moved inthe direction in which his head may be pointed and intoposition forengagement by the respective cutting means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses, v

FRANCIS D. CLEVELAND. Witnesses: CHARLES S. Goonmo, SYDNEY E. TAFT.

